Pitch or Ditch for Thursday, August 5

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next guy. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.__________________________________________________________________________________PoD
chart July 23.pdf

14 Comments

So it seems Youk is done for year…I’m just waiting for the confirmation. In preparation for that I need to figure out what to do.
Options:
Drop Youk and pick up a FA 3B. My choices are Aramis Ramirez, Chase Headley, Michael Cuddyer, Juan Uribe, & Pheralta. Of those options are any of them promising or exciting?

Trade Felix for M Young. I’m not exactly thrilled about this option but I have depth at SP…Lester, Beckett, Hanson, Floyd, Pettite, & Kuroda. Then drop Youk for PoD.

I?m in a 10 team 6 (OBP) x 7 (batting average against, holds) head to head 9 keeper league. I?ve been offered Ryan Howard and two outfielders from a list of McCutchen, Rasmus, Werth, CB Young, Delmon Young, and B.J. Upton for Youkilis and Kemp. I?ve clinched a playoff spot; the other guy?s out of the playoffs and looking towards next year. My current outfielders are Kemp, Holliday, Ellsbury, Quentin, Zobrist and Torres (I play 5, but Zobrist is in 2B until Pedroia and/or Utley come back). What do you think? Thanks, Damon in Seattle

I’m curious about the catchers as well, as I’ve listened to the advice here and held on to Doumit for far, far too long now. Or will he magically start hitting once I dump his butt.

I’m concerned about the Jurrjens pick here. He has started out great the last two games and then run into a wall mid fifth/sixth inning that Cox seemed content to let him stay out there and blow up totally before pulling him. Esp. being up against Lincecum today.

Valverde, and it’s not even close. He’s been dominant all season and sports both a higher strikeout rate than Capps and a significantly lower WHIP. Oh, and then there’s the job security factor. Should Capps start to struggle, the Twins would feel very comfortable sliding Rauch back into the closer role.
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Josh,

First, I think you should wait until we know more about the timetable for Youk’s return before dropping him. But if he is declared out for the season, I like the first option a lot more than the second one. A-Ram has been very solid since late-June and certainly carries elite 3B upside. Who knows, maybe Ramirez outperforms Young from here on out. Don’t pay the price of King Felix for the “upgrade” from Ramirez to Young.
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Damon,

I love that trade for you and the real possibility of Youk missing the rest of the season only makes it more attractive. Now I understand it’s a keeper league, but it’s not like the outfielders you’d be getting are veterans at the twilight of their careers. All of them (with the possible exception of Werth) are very young with plenty of upside.
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Ray,

I’d go with Torrealba for now. Those three catchers are close in value so feel free to simply ride the hot bat.
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Kenny,

Heyward’s been rather inconsistent over the last couple of months, but overall he’s putting together quite an impressive rookie season. The expectations were so high heading into the year and I think he’s done a great job handling the pressure. He’s clearly on the fast track to stardom.
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bloodfury,

I wouldn’t blame you for dropping Doumit in a 12 team mixed league. The Snyder acquisition should result in considerably less playing time for Doumit once he returns to action. As for Jurrjens, I feel that he’s earned the benefit of the doubt for now and the Giants are still sub-par offensively.

Thanks for the feedback. So if I pull the trigger on the trade which of his two outfielders would you ask for out of McCutchen, Rasmus, Werth, CB Young, Delmon Young, and B.J. Upton?

FYI, I recently traded Upton to him for Marmol. I felt I needed another quality closer for the playoffs, just got Ellsbury back (to cover SB), and have been struggling with batting average and OBP all year. Thanks, Damon in Seattle

I’ll go with the young duo of Wood and Gio. Hunter is a solid option as well but I think a stat correction is in store. He’s been just too good (that is, up until his last start). As for Erv vs. Padilla’s been absolutely dominant for awhile now but I just can’t see this lasting. Wednesday night’s meltdown aside, I still think Erv will have the stronger final two months.
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Josh,

Pass on Gordon and Valencia. My top three would be A-Ram followed by Cuddyer and Headley.
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alshan,

Depends on which categories you’re targeting. Scott is the far superior power hitter but McCutchen is the more complete player. All things equal, I’d lean towards Andrew.
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Damon,

Tough call as those guys are very close in value…can’t really go wrong with any two of them. If I had to pick, I’d choose Werth and CBY but take a look at the standings to see which areas you need to strengthen. If you’re low in SBs maybe go with McCutchen and CBY…if you need to improve your AVG, sub in Delmon, etc.
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Ed,

That trade was an absolute steal for you and your rotation is still solid. Hopefully, Burnett can start pitching with more consistency and you’d be in great shape.

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